NAS, storage, self-hosting and homelab guides
All 54 ubnas guides and calculators, grouped by topic — from choosing a NAS and planning RAID to self-hosting apps and backing everything up.
- 01NAS Power Consumption Calculator: How Much Does a NAS Cost to Run per Year?Calculate how much electricity your NAS uses and what it costs per month and per year, from idle watts, drive count, busy hours and your price per kWh.Jul 1, 2026 · 4 min
- 02RAID Calculator: Usable Capacity for RAID 5, 6, 10, ZFS RAIDZ, SHR & UnraidFree RAID calculator: usable capacity, fault tolerance and wasted space for RAID 0/1/5/6/10, ZFS RAIDZ1–3, Synology SHR and Unraid, including mixed drive sizes.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 01NAS Noise, Heat and Placement: How to Live With It at HomeMake a home NAS quieter and cooler: why vibration is the real noise source, where to place it, safe drive temperatures and what to change first.Oct 3, 2026 · 5 min
- 02NAS Capacity Planning: Calculate How Much Storage You NeedPlan NAS capacity for five years: calculate data growth, RAID usable space, snapshots, free-space headroom, drive size and backup capacity.Jul 28, 2026 · 5 min
- 03Best Budget NAS Under $500 in 2026Best budget NAS under $500 in 2026. Cheap 2- and 4-bay picks with Intel Quick Sync, plus a DIY option — without buying junk that can't transcode.Jul 1, 2026 · 6 min
- 04Best NAS for Jellyfin in 2026 (Hardware Transcoding Picks)Best NAS for Jellyfin in 2026. Our top picks for smooth 4K hardware transcoding — UGreen, DIY Intel N100, ASUSTOR, QNAP and Synology — plus which AMD units to avoid.Jul 1, 2026 · 6 min
- 05Best NAS for Plex in 2026 (Hardware Transcoding Picks)Best NAS for Plex in 2026. Top picks for smooth 4K hardware transcoding, why you need Intel Quick Sync, and how Plex Pass affects your choice.Jul 1, 2026 · 6 min
- 06Synology vs UGreen vs QNAP vs TrueNAS (2026 Guide)Synology vs UGreen vs QNAP vs TrueNAS in 2026. Which NAS should you buy? Software, hardware value, transcoding, drive rules and price compared.Jul 1, 2026 · 7 min
- 07NAS vs Cloud Storage: Which Is Cheaper (and Better) in the Long Run?NAS vs cloud storage in 2026: cost break-even, privacy, speed and control compared. When a NAS beats a monthly subscription — and when it doesn't.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 08What Is a NAS? A Beginner's Guide (2026)What is a NAS? A beginner's guide to network-attached storage: what it does, what you can run on it, who needs one, and whether to buy or build.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 09Prebuilt NAS vs DIY TrueNAS: Which Should You Build in 2026?Prebuilt NAS vs DIY TrueNAS in 2026. Cost, effort, flexibility, power and support compared — so you pick the right path for your homelab.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 01Btrfs vs ZFS vs ext4 on a NAS: How to Choose a FilesystemBtrfs vs ZFS vs ext4 for a NAS: data checksums, self-healing, snapshots and compression compared, plus why Btrfs RAID 5/6 is unsafe and Synology's Btrfs is not.Sep 24, 2026 · 5 min
- 02How Much RAM Does a NAS Need? (ZFS, Docker and VMs)How much RAM a NAS actually needs, by workload: file sharing, Docker containers, Immich, VMs and ZFS. Why the 1GB-per-TB rule is wrong, plus ECC and upgrade advice.Sep 21, 2026 · 5 min
- 03How to Replace a Failed NAS Drive and Survive the RebuildReplace a failed NAS drive safely: verify backups, find the disk by serial, pick a CMR replacement, survive the rebuild and run a scrub.Sep 9, 2026 · 5 min
- 04SMART Attributes That Actually Predict NAS Drive FailureWhich SMART attributes predict hard drive failure — 5, 187, 188, 197 and 198 — which ones people misread, and how to schedule tests on a NAS.Sep 3, 2026 · 5 min
- 05ZFS Snapshots vs Backups: What Each One ProtectsZFS snapshots vs backups explained: what snapshots protect, why local snapshots are not backups, how replication works and how to test recovery.Aug 4, 2026 · 5 min
- 06SSD Endurance Calculator: TBW, DWPD and How Long a NAS SSD Will LastEstimate how many years an SSD lasts in a NAS from its TBW rating and your daily writes, convert TBW to DWPD, and compare NAS SSD endurance ratings.Jul 26, 2026 · 10 min
- 07RAID 5 vs RAID 6 vs SHR: Which Should You Choose?RAID 5 vs RAID 6 vs Synology SHR: compare usable capacity, fault tolerance, mixed-drive expansion, rebuild risk and the best choice for each NAS.Jul 24, 2026 · 5 min
- 08Best SSD for NAS in 2026 (Cache, Pools & All-Flash)Best SSD for NAS in 2026. Top picks for cache, all-flash pools and metadata, plus what matters: endurance (TBW), DRAM cache and power-loss protection.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 09CMR vs SMR Hard Drives Explained (and Why It Matters for NAS)CMR vs SMR explained: the difference between the two recording methods, why SMR is risky for NAS/RAID rebuilds, and how to identify CMR drives.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 10Hard Drive vs SSD for a NAS: Which Should You Use?Hard drive vs SSD for a NAS: cost per TB, speed, noise and power compared, plus when an all-flash NAS or SSD cache is worth it.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 11Best Hard Drives for NAS in 2026 (CMR vs SMR, Sizes & Reliability)Best NAS hard drives for 2026, backed by data: CMR vs SMR (which WD Red to avoid), WD Red Pro vs IronWolf Pro vs Toshiba N300, and the best value capacity.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 12How Many Drive Bays Does Your NAS Need? (2 vs 4 vs 6+)How many NAS drive bays do you need? 2 vs 4 vs 6+ bays compared for capacity, redundancy and future growth — with a simple decision guide.Jul 1, 2026 · 4 min
- 01How to Set Up Paperless-ngx on a NAS (Docker Guide)Set up Paperless-ngx on a NAS with Docker Compose: PostgreSQL, Redis, the consume folder, OCR languages, matching rules and backups.Sep 30, 2026 · 5 min
- 02Immich vs Google Photos: What You Gain and What You Give UpImmich vs Google Photos: cost, privacy, ML search, maintenance and Takeout migration — what you gain by self-hosting photos and what you give up.Sep 18, 2026 · 5 min
- 03How to Access Jellyfin Remotely Without Exposing ItAccess Jellyfin remotely without exposing your server: Tailscale, a reverse proxy with HTTPS or Cloudflare Tunnel — and which to avoid for video.Sep 6, 2026 · 5 min
- 04The *arr Stack Explained: Sonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr & MoreThe *arr stack explained: what Sonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr and Bazarr do, how they work together, and how they fit with your media server and NAS.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 05How to Set Up Home Assistant on a NAS or Home ServerHow to set up Home Assistant on a NAS: container vs HAOS VM install methods compared, what works best, and how to get your smart home started.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 06How to Set Up Pi-hole for Network-Wide Ad BlockingHow to set up Pi-hole for network-wide ad blocking. Run it in Docker on your NAS, point your router's DNS at it, and block ads on every device.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 07How to Set Up Vaultwarden with Docker (Self-Hosted Bitwarden)How to set up Vaultwarden with Docker: a lightweight, self-hosted, Bitwarden-compatible password manager on your own NAS. Step-by-step 2026 guide.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 08Jellyfin vs Plex: Which Media Server Should You Choose in 2026?Jellyfin vs Plex in 2026: cost, hardware transcoding, apps, privacy and ease of use compared. Which self-hosted media server is right for you?Jul 1, 2026 · 4 min
- 09Best Self-Hosted Apps for Beginners in 2026Best self-hosted apps for beginners in 2026: Immich, Jellyfin, Nextcloud, Vaultwarden, Pi-hole and more — what each replaces and how to start.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 10How to Install Immich with Docker (Self-Hosted Google Photos)How to install Immich with Docker: self-host a Google Photos alternative with automatic phone backup, in about 15 minutes. Step-by-step 2026 guide.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 11How to Self-Host Nextcloud with Docker (Nextcloud AIO Guide)How to self-host Nextcloud with Docker using Nextcloud AIO. Your own private cloud for file sync, calendar and contacts — step-by-step 2026 guide.Jul 1, 2026 · 4 min
- 12How to Set Up Jellyfin with Docker (Including Hardware Transcoding)How to set up Jellyfin with Docker and enable Intel Quick Sync hardware transcoding for smooth 4K streaming. Step-by-step 2026 guide.Jul 1, 2026 · 4 min
- 01Time Machine Backup to a NAS: A Setup That Stays ReliableSet up Time Machine backups to a NAS that stay reliable: a dedicated share and user, a real quota and SMB, with Synology, QNAP and TrueNAS steps.Sep 15, 2026 · 5 min
- 02How to Protect a NAS From Ransomware: 12 Practical ControlsProtect a NAS from ransomware with 12 practical controls: no exposed admin ports, MFA, patching, least privilege, snapshots and isolated backups.Aug 14, 2026 · 5 min
- 03How to Migrate to a New NAS Without Losing DataMigrate to a new NAS without losing data: plan capacity, back up first, copy and verify files, cut over applications, permissions and shares safely.Jul 31, 2026 · 5 min
- 04Synology Hyper Backup vs Cloud Sync: Which Should You Use?Synology Hyper Backup vs Cloud Sync compared: backup repository, file synchronization, encryption, versions, deletion risk and when to use both.Jul 17, 2026 · 5 min
- 05NAS Backup Retention Policy: How Many Versions Should You Keep?Create a NAS backup retention policy using RPO, detection time and GFS versions, with home, creator and small-business examples and capacity math.Jul 14, 2026 · 5 min
- 06Best Cloud Backup for NAS 2026: B2 vs Wasabi vs IDriveBest cloud backup for NAS in 2026. Backblaze B2 vs Wasabi vs IDrive compared on price, egress fees, retention and Synology/QNAP integration.Jul 1, 2026 · 6 min
- 07The 3-2-1 Backup Rule for Your NAS (and How to Actually Do It)The 3-2-1 backup rule for NAS, explained simply, plus how to implement it: local snapshots, a second copy, and offsite cloud backup that actually works.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 08How to Back Up a Synology NAS to Backblaze B2 (Step by Step)How to back up a Synology NAS to Backblaze B2 using Hyper Backup: create a bucket and keys, configure encrypted backup, schedule it, and test a restore.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 01SMB vs NFS on a NAS: Which Protocol Should You Use?SMB vs NFS (Samba vs NFS) on a NAS: speed, security, identity and compatibility compared — SMB for people, NFS for machines.Sep 12, 2026 · 5 min
- 02How to Size a UPS for Your NAS (and Set Up Safe Shutdown)Size a UPS for a NAS from measured watts, pick a line-interactive unit and set up automatic safe shutdown with DSM, QTS, TrueNAS or NUT.Aug 31, 2026 · 5 min
- 03Docker PUID and PGID Explained for NAS UsersDocker PUID and PGID explained for NAS users: UID/GID mapping, bind-mount permissions, Compose examples and fixes for permission denied errors.Aug 11, 2026 · 5 min
- 042.5GbE vs 10GbE for NAS: Is the Upgrade Worth It?2.5GbE vs 10GbE for NAS: realistic throughput, cabling, switch and adapter costs, HDD/SSD bottlenecks and who should upgrade.Aug 7, 2026 · 5 min
- 05Tailscale ACLs for NAS: A Least-Privilege Access GuideUse Tailscale ACLs and grants for least-privilege NAS access: plan users, groups, tags and ports, then test admin, SMB and app access safely.Jul 21, 2026 · 5 min
- 06How to Access Your NAS Remotely: Tailscale vs Cloudflare Tunnel vs Reverse ProxyAccess a NAS from outside your home safely: Tailscale, Cloudflare Tunnel and a reverse proxy compared on exposure, CGNAT and setup effort.Jul 1, 2026 · 7 min
- 07Reverse Proxy Explained: HTTPS for Your Self-Hosted AppsReverse proxy explained for self-hosters: what it does, why you need it for HTTPS and clean URLs, and how Nginx Proxy Manager, Caddy and Traefik compare.Jul 1, 2026 · 4 min
- 08What Is a Homelab? A Beginner's Guide to Getting StartedWhat is a homelab? A beginner's guide: what people run, why it's worth it, and how to start small with a NAS or a mini PC and Docker.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 09Docker on a NAS: A Beginner's Guide (2026)Docker on a NAS for beginners: what containers are, enabling Docker on Synology/UGreen/TrueNAS, and running your first app with Docker Compose.Jul 1, 2026 · 4 min
- 10How to Set Up Tailscale for Secure Remote NAS AccessHow to set up Tailscale for secure remote NAS access in 2026. Reach your NAS from anywhere without port forwarding or exposing it to the internet.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min
- 11Proxmox vs TrueNAS vs Unraid: Which Homelab OS in 2026?Proxmox vs TrueNAS vs Unraid in 2026. Hypervisor vs ZFS NAS vs flexible all-rounder — storage, VMs, apps, mixed drives and ease of use compared.Jul 1, 2026 · 5 min